House of the Dragon: Did Viserys send an abortion tea to Rhaenyra?

At the end of Episode 4, a maester brings tea to Rhaenyra’s room, saying the King had sent it for her. It was to be drunk to avoid unwanted consequences. Instantly, everyone wondered three things:

What was the tea?

Why did Viserys send tea for Rhaenyra at that hour?

What did “unwanted circumstances” mean?

The answer is much simpler than you might have had in mind. Earlier in the episode, King Viserys learns that Prince Daemon and Rhaenyra had a sexual encounter at a pleasure house in the White Worm.

Although the two lie and deny this, the gesture with the tea suggests that Viserys doesn’t entirely believe them. So, he does what he thinks would be the best solution.

King Viserys sent a moon tea for Rhaenyra. It is an abortifacient that avoids unwanted pregnancy and acts as a morning-after pill.

King Viserys is wiser than he appears. Although he doesn’t take many actions, he is aware of everything happening around him. So, when Otto Hightower comes with the news from his spies, King Viserys isn’t ready to believe it.

However, this time, he doesn’t stop there. He is clear that Otto wants his daughter’s son, Aegon II, on the throne and might want to discredit Rhaenyra. So, he meets Rhaenyra and Daemon separately.

Daemon is summoned to the court, where Viserys puts a knife to his throat. He is visibly angry and frustrated with his brother, who just doesn’t stop causing trouble. Daemon then proposes marriage with Rhaenyra as a gift for bringing down the Triarchy.

Viserys once again shows that he knows everything happening around him. He blatantly tells him that Daemon doesn’t want Rhaenyra but the throne and asks him to leave King’s Landing.

When Viserys summons Rhaenyra to his private chambers, he tells her how she is making it difficult for him to rule the Seven Kingdoms. He also says that he should ideally disinherit her, but he wouldn’t do so because he doesn’t want to create more division and conflict between people.

Viserys is also frustrated that she is not choosing any suitor for her marriage. So he orders her to marry Ser Laenor, son of the Sea Snake. This way, the two most powerful houses will unite, and peace could be held for another generation.

Rhaenyra’s encounter with Daemon and later with Ser Cristan Cole made her realize that she can indeed do as she pleases. So, she decides to say yes to the marriage with Ser Laenor.

However, she warns Viserys about Otto Hightower and his self-interest. In fact, she tells him that she would do her duty if Viserys did his. With everything happening, Viserys decides to take difficult but necessary action.

He first relieves Otto Hightower from the position of the King’s Hand. He then sends a maester with some moon tea to Rhaenyra’s room. The moon tea ensured that Rhaenyra didn’t get pregnant with Daemon’s child, thus avoiding a scandal.

He truly didn’t want Rhaenyra’s heirship to be hindered by anything. In fact, it was good that Viserys didn’t believe her.

Since Rhaenyra had an encounter with Ser Cristan Cole, there was a chance she would get pregnant with his baby. But with the moon tea, all of these “unwanted consequences” will now be avoided.

About House Of The Dragon

House of the Dragon is the prequel series to HBO’s blockbuster Game of Thrones based on George R. R. Martin’s book Fire & Blood.

Set three hundred years before the events of Game of Thrones, House of the Dragon will show Westeros under the Targaryen family’s rule before the dragons went extinct. It will follow the Dance of the Dragons, the Targaryen civil war between siblings Aegon II and Rhaenyra, who fought for the throne after the death of their father, Viserys I.

Directed by Ryan Condall and Miguel Sapochnik, the show stars Paddy Considine as Viserys I Targaryen, Emma D’Arcy as Rhaenyra Targaryen, Olivia Cooke as Alicent Hightower, Matt Smith as Daemon Targaryen, Tom Glynn-Craney as Aegon II Targaryen, Rhys Ifans as Otto Hightower, Steve Toussaint as Corlys Velaryon, Eve Best as Rhaenys Velaryon, Sonoya Mizuno as Mysaria, Fabien Frankel as Criston Cole, and Graham McTavish.